City Cast Madison

It isn’t every day your city’s flag gets voted one of the best in the country. But that’s what happened when the North American Vexillological Association got together to rate the designs of a whopping 312 flags.Ted Kaye, the nation’s foremost authority on flag design and author of the NAVA booklet “‘Good’ Flag, ‘Bad’ Flag,” talks with host Bianca Martin about what makes a well-designed flag, why Madison’s flag is so strong (but our state flag … not so much), and how we would go about designing a City Cast Madison flag.Check out NAVA’s 2022 survey results to see which flags got an A grade, and which ones got an F.And here’s Roman Mars’ 2015 TED Talk about “why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed.”Find out more about the Wisconsin Film Festival, including the First Look at the Fest event on March 8, here.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

City Cast’s Dylan Brogan and Bianca Martin get you up to speed on this week’s Wisconsin primary results, the big things happening on Park Street, and the winners of Madison’s snowplow naming contest.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven Acre Dairy is many things - a cafe, a restaurant, a hotel, a butter plant. 🧈But if you talk to founder Nic Mink, it’s also a place for restoration. He renovated a shuttered old butter plant in Paoli, Wisconsin, a small community about twenty minutes from downtown Madison. It’s drawing neighbors near and far to enjoy locally-made butter, soft serve ice cream and a farm-to-table restaurant. It sits along the banks of the Sugar River, nestled among a savanna with oak trees older than the state of Wisconsin. It aims to preserve a little slice of Wisconsin’s dairy heritage, in what is a rapidly changing dairy industry. 🧀 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may not know his name, but you likely know his work. Michael Schultz forged a path at a time when there was little representation for Black directors or actors in Hollywood. His 1976 movie Car Wash was considered ahead of its time, with its social and cultural critique of the era. It was the first film by a Black director to compete for the prestigious awards at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards. Its soundtrack won a Grammy. Schultz was also responsible for casting Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson in their first feature films. He’s been directing for half a century, with more than a dozen movie credits to his name. Not to mention stints directing the TV series Blackish and All American.And where did he get his start? Right here in Madison, at the University of Wisconsin. 🎥 You can see Car Wash for free at the Chazen this Sunday, February 26th. It’s part of the UW Cinematheque’s spring film series. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outdoor cats. They evoke strong feelings in the neighborhood. They fight, yowl, kill birds and other wildlife… and make more cats. But what do we do about Madison’s strays? If you call the city, animal control will attempt to trap them. But if these cats can’t find a home, they’ll likely be killed. Many cat-loving Madisonians are not making that call, leaving cats to roam free. 🐈 The Madison Cat Project has an idea: round up these kitties and spay or neuter them. Then release them back outside to help curb the population. The only problem? It’s not really legal. Dr. Adam Bauknecht explains. 🐾 Check out the Dane County Humane Society’s tips for what to do if you find a lost or stray animal.🇺🇸 And hey, it’s Election Day! Check myvote.wi.gov for info on how to vote. In Madison, we’re voting for City Council, Mayor and Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the morning newsletter from our friends at Madison Minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Evers has released his plan for the next state budget and the forecast is rosy: we’re sitting on the biggest surplus in state history. Evers is proposing more money for our K-12 schools, twelve weeks of paid family leave for Wisconsin workers, and a tax cut for the middle-class. But will the legislature go for it? Mitchell Schmidt, state politics reporter for The Wisconsin State Journal, joins Dylan and Bianca to unpack what’s inside the Governor’s plan. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It’s fermented, cured, delicious, and often misunderstood and mispronounced.”So says Jesse Brookstein, author of A Perfect Pair: The History of Landjaeger in Green County, Wisconsin.They may look like beef jerky, but Jesse’s referring to the pairs of smoked, fermented sausages that hang in many bars around southern Wisconsin. The high-protein snack enjoyed by Swiss and German immigrants of the past century has found fans among many thirsty bar-hoppers in Madison today. Jesse’s here to tell us why this salty meat snack is showing up all over. (And yes, it’s LON-yay-grrr.)🍖 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s an election next week, one said to carry bigger policy stakes than ANY other contest in America this year. And that’s for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The court currently has four conservative justices and three liberal justices, so the balance of power is riding on this race. The right to abortion, control of the state’s political maps and how elections are conducted could be decided by this court. There are four candidates in the running - and we’ve invited them all on the show. Today, we’re speaking with Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell. The primary election is Tuesday, February 21st. The top two candidates will advance to the general election on April 4th. To look up where you vote - or what you need to do to register- check out My Vote Wisconsin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Valentine’s Day… a day that can fill you with hope and excitement… or dread.And who among us hasn’t had a terribly bad date? Well, we asked - and you answered. Today, we’re listening to YOUR stories of dates gone terribly awry (and a few that went really, really right!) Hayley Sperling, co-founder of Madison Minutes and Madison dating veteran, joins us on this wild ride through Madison’s dating scene.🗳️ And hey, vote for us! You can nominate our podcast as “Best Local Podcast” in Madison Magazine’s Best of Madison contest. And don’t forget Madison Minutes!Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s an election next week, one said to carry bigger policy stakes than ANY other contest in America this year. And that’s for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The court currently has four conservative justices and three liberal justices, so the balance of power is riding on this race. The right to abortion, control of the state’s political maps and how we run elections are at stake. There are four candidates in the running - and we’ve invited them all on the show. Today, we’re speaking with Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz. The primary election is Tuesday, February 21st. The top two candidates will advance to the general election on April 4th. To look up where you vote - or what you need to do to register- check out My Vote Wisconsin. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices